Creative Game Hunting Methods

[A_Feisty_Pickle | 244]

I've had an idea floating around my head for the past year, but I think I've ultimately determined it's not worth the effort or time, so I don't mind sharing it with the public and getting their opinion (and maybe someone will try it themselves). 

USPS has a program called Every Door Direct Mail, which is used by businesses to spam advertisements to houses with specific qualifications you can set. Quoted from their website "even filter by age, income, or household size¹ using U.S. Census data".  You submit your info such as what areas you want to target and what demographics and drop off the fliers and they'll deliver them. This runs $.19 per house. I think you can get fliers printed up for cheap, I would imagine less than $.01-$.02 per, so we'll say all together your cost is $.20 per house. 

I think it would be interesting to create a 'Want to Buy' flier with some generic info such as games, consoles, etc and provide an email address and phone number (you can even use Google Voice so you don't have to give up your real number). This really isn't any different than the posts you see spammed on Craigslist and Facebook, but I feel people who use these technologies have probably already sold their stuff for the most part. This is more to target people who don't use the internet as a marketplace.

Of course by today most people have sold off their retro games, but I think there's a chance to advertise to specific clientele that may still have games stored away. This could be older people, people who live in small towns that don't have game stores nearby, people that may not be as technical savvy. 

I don't think I'm going to pursue the idea since I'm not too confident in it and the startup cost, but I've been tempted to do a trial run just to see if I get any hits. You can get 1000 houses for $200 which almost feels worth the gamble, but I don't know. I would assume 95% of junk mail gets thrown away without even being read lol. 

Edited April 16, 2020 by A_Feisty_Pickle

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

While 1000 houses sounds like a lot, it really isn't.   I would wager that for 1000 houses you get maybe 5 hits tops, which at $40 a hit (and considering at least two of those 5 will be all PS2 and Xbox junk), that doesn't sound too great.

 

[A_Feisty_Pickle | 244]

Yeah I think it would be all about numbers. Almost all will be duds, but there's that ever so small chance you'll find a hit that pays for 1000 advertisements. Kind of like playing the lottery with extra steps lol. Never know what's still sitting in grandma's attic! 

[captmorgandrinker | 1,649]

You would probably want to go for smaller towns if you did something like that?    I would think you'd have better luck with 1000 mailers in Bergholz, Ohio than in Chicago?

[A_Feisty_Pickle | 244]

I would say yes. My area I live is about 500k population, but you can drive 20 minutes pretty much any direction and be in a small 500-5k population town. No game stores.. older population.. less technical savvy. They may or may not have ever had games to begin with though. 

[Astor Reinhardt | 199]

Now that's an interesting idea. I could see doing this with a few other collectors so the start up price isn't as bad? You put up 1/3rd of the price, Joe puts his third up and Sally puts her third up and then you just have to figure out how to divvy up the spoils...

[fcgamer | 4,719]

I'd go for it bro. The difference between success and failure is taking the risk. In the grand scheme of things, $200 is nothing, if it doesn't work then cut bait afterwards.

[RH | 4,895]

I tell you who you want to find and this might work well with--older couples who kept all of there stuff from the 80s-90s, the kids grew up, moved out and didn't care about the games and your flier might remind them to get rid of them, especially if someone is offering to pay. Not everyone likes to throw yard sales, so this stuff is still out there.